Five years ago, the California Department of Education instituted a program to recognize the best classified employees around the state.

Here in San Bernardino County, we recently honored the 2012 county recipients of the Classified Employees of the Year. They represent the thousands of classified support staff who make our schools and districts safe and clean, as well as operate efficiently on a daily basis. That allows for the critical work of teaching more than 417,000 students in our county to take place seamlessly each day.

The classified employees are represented in six categories: child nutrition; maintenance, operations and facilities; office and technical; para-educator and instructional assistance; support services and security; and transportation.

On April 2, the San Bernardino County Board of Education recognized this year’s recipients with a reception. SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union sponsored the county program and presented the recipients with plaques and a $250 honorarium for their selection. More than 100 people attended the event, many of them family and friends, but also colleagues, administrators and staff from the schools and districts they represent.

While the focus of our schools centers on the daily instruction of students, that work could not be completed without the work and assistance of classified staff at sites and throughout districts.

I am honored to present this year’s recipients for the Classified Employees of the Year, who were nominated by the local educational agencies and selected by a judging panel for the statewide program.

The county recipients now qualify for the state contest, the results of which are expected to be announced by the California Department of Education by the end of April.

Here are this year’s recipients for the county Classified Employees of the Year, as well as the schools and districts they represent:

Cupples helps students apply technology into their learning as a computer resource assistant at the three elementary schools For the past 15 years, Cupples’ work with students in computer labs has received strong positive feedback from teachers and administrators at the sites where she works.

“Her deep desire to successfully infuse technology into the curriculum as a tool to inspire and motivate our students will help them become the digital natives of tomorrow,” Wildwood Principal Lucia Hudec wrote in the nomination of Cupples.

Sesari “Chachi” Estrella, transportation scheduler, for the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools. This is the second Classified Employee of the Year recognition for Estrella, who was first recognized in the program in 2010.

For the past six years, she has been instrumental in developing driver-training materials centered on special needs students.

“Chachi is a natural leader. Because of her knowledge and attitude, our staff and those we serve outside of the organization consider her the ‘go to’ person in our department,” wrote County Schools’ transportation manager Itrice Sanders in her nomination of Estrella.

Jeannette Ingram, secretary, at Wickman Elementary School in the Chino Valley Unified School District. She has been the school secretary since Wickman opened in 2003. Ingram’s role, as secretary of the school, has to make sure the day-to-day projects that need to be accomplished, are done effectively and efficiently.

“Her touch has positively impacted every program, every classroom and every student activity for the past nine years at Wickman. By consensus, she is the MVP of the school,” Principal Don Wilson wrote in his nomination of Ingram.

Ester Miranda, nutrition services worker, at Kucera Middle School in the Rialto Unified School District. For the past 20 years, Miranda has pleasantly and productively helped organize and serve meals to students in Rialto Unified.

“Ester is thoughtful, caring and sincere when dealing with students. Ester gets to know the students and inspires them to change. She exudes the key to life, which is building genuine relationships,” wrote Kucera Principal Monique Conway in the nomination of Miranda.

Jimmy Nieto, lead security monitor, at Yucaipa High School for the Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District.

Nieto has worked for the past two decades with the Yucaipa-Calimesa district in security, the last nine years at Yucaipa High. His grasp of safety and discipline issues has been a benefit to the campuses, students and staff he works with on site.

“His relationship with students, like those he has with staff, extends far beyond his job description. In a high school setting, it is vital to have employees on staff who can calm, motivate and guide all students. Mr. Nieto is a priceless safety net for the students and staff at Yucaipa High,” Assistant Principal John Moore wrote in Nieto’s nomination.

Frank Rocha, grounds foreman, at Montclair High School in the Chaffey Joint Union High School District.

For the past seven years, Rocha has been in his position as grounds foreman at Montclair High. Overseeing about 50 acres of land at the high school, Rocha is credited with keeping the site both aesthetically pleasing, as well as safe.

“He often uses vacation time to come in to check on his fields and make sure the school has not been vandalized or mistreated in any way. This is above and beyond any directives,” wrote Michelle Boyette, assistant principal of Education Services for the school, in her nomination of Rocha.

Our classified employees are the scaffolding of support that keeps our schools and districts operating efficiently and smoothly. They are vital to the heart of our work to see all students successful.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.